Well folks, Valentine's Day has come again! What an interesting holiday it is. I think that there are two camps of people when it comes to this day celebrating love. Those who are bitter about it, and those who embrace it. There don't seem to be many people who camp out in the middle ground. Well, I'm an embracer. I don't give it a squeeze-the-life-out-of-it embrace, but certainly a warm, friendly hug. Let's be real: what girl doesn't like hearts and and chocolate and flowers and the idea of love? The other night, I texted my friend, Xochitl, to ask her for her address. In her excitement about receiving a letter she replied, "I love snail mail." I do, too! I love sending and receiving things in the mail! What better time than Valentine's Day to send something to someone you care about? Sorry, X, your valentine will most likely arrive to you on the 15th...but it's the thought that counts, right?
Yes, yes, I was a bit tardy in picking out and sending valentines for loved ones this year. Let me tell y'all, the greeting card aisle at Target on the weekend before Valentine's day is not a place in which you want to get stuck- especially if you are indecisive like me. This one aisle was teeming with all sorts of frantic shoppers: parents telling their kids to pick out cards for their family members and/or teacher, wives choosing cards for their husbands, grandmothers reaching for the movie character-themed valentines for grandkids, and that one brave man, determined to fight through the estrogen-charged crowd to find a card for his sweetheart...utter chaos, I tell you. I had the agenda of looking for valentines for my parents, which were inconveniently sectioned at the very bottom of the tall shelves, smack in the middle of all the action. In order to examine my choices, I had to assume an awkward squatting position, dodge the occasional arm-reach, and as I got up, I did this weird, pivoting, slow-to-rise maneuver to avoid any embarrassing bumps into strangers. Phew. Fortunately, I must say that I was able to find some pretty fantastic cards.
The greeting card. What an interesting concept! It's a whole business of people writing and designing cards for other people...to give to other people, who read them, and they are generally supposed to evoke a warm, fuzzy feeling upon their reception. Makes me think of two things: Hallmark commercials, and 500 Days of Summer.
If there is anyone out there as sappy as me, they just might tune in to those special Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movies that play on the occasional Sunday evening. During the course of the evening, one is subjected to the viewing the sweetest greeting card commercials ever created, that are expertly crafted to tug on the toughest of heartstrings.
I also picture the office of a greeting card company, like in 500 Days of Summer. Some Joseph Gordon-Levitt guy and his quirky bunch of coworkers gathered in a conference room, spouting out ideas, brainstorming for the perfect message. Corny ones, mushy ones, one-liners that just make you say, "Aww!"
I love the mail. I love everything about sending letters, cards, and/or packages to special people. I always have. There's a romantic quality about sending/receiving something in the mail that does not exist via the internet or the smart phone. Something so personal about reading a hand-written message...checking your mailbox to find one thing, just for you, that isn't a bill or an advertisement. Nowadays, it seems to be a means of communication all but forgotten. Left behind by the fast-paced, instant-gratification society that we live in.
Does anyone else out there appreciate snail mail? Surely there are some romantics left out there. Well, obviously, the greeting card industry is still afloat and raking in the dough when holidays arrive. There are still those who give cards, who send letters. But if you're sitting at your computer and you haven't used the United States Postal Service in a while, I challenge you to get out some paper, find a pen, and use that cursive that you learned in third grade (okay...maybe just stick to print if your cursive is illegible...) to write to a faraway friend or family member! Or, let a card say the words you can't seem to jot out. Heck, box up a little gift and ship it off to a loved one. Send a little snail mail to someone special! Even if your letter/card/parcel is sent after Valentine's Day, the gesture won't go unnoticed.
Let's show our love to one another this year! Love isn't a feeling. Love is sacrifice, action, laying down your own wants for the good of someone else. I recently watched this video of one of my new favorite musicians, Josh Garrels. He gives his thoughts on love, and thoughts on writing songs about it. Take a look! (and check out his music!)
Share the love! Send some snail mail!
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you :)
-Laura
John 15:13
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